


Box Up The Monster

by KivaEmber



Series: Wine Cellar [38]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Assassination Plot(s), Attempted Kidnapping, Established Relationship, Garlean fic!, M/M, Male!WoL - Freeform, Miqo'te!WoL - Freeform, Post-Stormblood, Pre-Patch 4.3, SO MUCH LORE BENDING, all pov will mostly be Garlean, garleans believe the 'WoL is a Primal' theory, so much world building gonna happen, things kind of spiral from there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-19 00:58:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15498741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KivaEmber/pseuds/KivaEmber
Summary: Kimiko tapped her finger against the file, considering. Aza Lynel: powerful warrior, nuisance of the Garlean Empire, and potentially crazier than a bag of angry coeurls.Or;Garlemald finally puts out an official hit on the Warrior of Light.





	Box Up The Monster

“And this is our target.”

Kimiko looked down at the file before her, frowning at the grainy Garlean photograph pinned to the front of it. It was badly taken – still experimental technology, from what she understood – but there was no mistaking those piercing yellow eyes glaring out at her from the picture: Aza Lynel, Eorzea’s Warrior of Light. You would have to be deaf and blind to not have seen his likeness or heard his tales.

“I’m surprised this did not cross our table earlier,” Kimiko noted, gently prising the photograph off the file and holding it closer. He really was a handsome Miqo’te, with such a pretty face and good attention to his make up and fashion. Was this any other mark she would’ve merrily volunteered to lure him in with a honeypot. Alas, intelligence told them that he was unfortunately faithful to Ishgard’s Lord Chancellor and warmed his bed on a regular basis. Unusual for a male Miqo’te, but…

“From what I understand the Empire had thought he could be contained earlier,” the plain-faced Hyur sitting across from her said. Tsubasa was his name – or, the name he introduced himself with. This was the first time Kimiko was directly working with him, but he was well known in her business for being very thorough and reliable with the information he gathered and processed on targets. She wondered how hard he had to work to dig up this Aza’s skeletons, who was infamous for having a murky, inscrutable past before arriving in Eorzea.

“And now that he has slain Zenos Yae Galvus, according to rumours…” Kimiko hummed, studying the photo a little more closely. This photograph really was bad, but it seemed to have been taken from a bush or some sort, with Aza either in the tail-end of a battle or immediately after it. His monster of a greatsword was resting on his shoulder, his head turned towards the photographer with his gaze somewhere off to the side. His armour only accentuated his powerful, compact frame, and she remembered the tales told of how he could withstand a direct charge from a Behemoth without flinching.

“There are suspicions regarding his _true_ nature, and I must confess, they’re not unfounded,” Tsubasa said, frowning at the photo in her hands, “You are aware he possesses the Echo, a strange ability said to be bestowed upon him by Hydaelyn Herself? Garlean research into the subject has unearthed some… troubling details that cast his existence into doubt.”

“His existence?” Kimiko looked up. He seemed very real to her, “In what way?”

“It’s possible that he is a Primal,” Tsubasa said bluntly, “Zenos Yae Galvus attained the power of the Echo through artificial means and, though these reports still need to be fully verified, managed to control and merge with a Primal by exerting the same aetherical pressure as Tempering.”

“Meaning… the Echo can temper, in theory,” Kimiko said thoughtfully, “And yet, those around Aza Lynel are in full control of themselves.”

“Those that surrounded Lady Iceheart, also known as the Primal Shiva, were also in full control of themselves. It’s thought that Tempering is… conscious, to a point, and only prolonged, intense exposure can cause unintentional Tempering of the victim.”

Kimiko mulled over this. No doubt she would find the details of this research and theory in the file, but on the surface it seemed like sound reasoning. Aza Lynel was a mysterious man who held mysterious powers. He was immune to Tempering and any other mind-altering or controlling effects. His strength was superhuman and the more people surrounded him and believed him, the more fantastical things he could do. If people believed him to be the Warrior of Light that could never be defeated…

“He bathes regularly in large quantities of aether as well,” Tsubasa continued, “Every Primal he slays creates a large discharge of aether into the surrounding environment… and himself. He _actively seeks_ powerful enemies and creatures to kill that are known to carry large amounts of aether within themselves. It is harder work than simply drawing energy from crystals, but the effects are the same.”

“I can see it,” Kimiko admitted, finally setting the photo down and opening the file. Inside was the smooth, stark white Garlean paper that always made her squint. The first page were basic stats, height, estimated weight, estimated age, etcetera… those she noted his birthplace and nationality were left blank. “Hmm… couldn’t find his birthplace, Tsubasa? How unlike you.”

“He has no past,” Tsubasa said, “Another troubling detail. I traced the transport he used to arrive in Ul’dah. He travelled over land by Chocobo cart… but arrived in Eorzea by ship from Othard, where, apparently, he came from the Azim Steppes.”

“That’s Xaela land.”

“There are no known Miqo’te tribes there, yes,” Tsubasa said with a frown, “According to a _contact_ in Onokoro, Aza managed to ingratiate himself with the _Iriq_ Xaela tribe several years ago. They’re mercantile in nature and subservient to the _Borlaaq_ , a tribe of warrior women. Trying to get anything more than that is nigh impossible though, according to my contact. Questioning the _Iriq_ on Aza makes them unfriendly and defensive.”

The Xaela did tend to close ranks against outsiders, Kimiko mused. That avenue of information collecting would be pointless then. Merchants or not, Xaela were as tough and unyielding as their harsh land – even under the hand of… _firm persuasion_ , they would be tight-lipped out of spite, more than loyalty. Heh, Tsubasa may have finally found someone he couldn’t fully figure out.

“So, what, specifically, does our client want?” Kimiko asked, “If Zenos Yae Galvus couldn’t defeat him, then I doubt an assassin, as professional and precise as she is, could hope to slit his throat in his sleep.”

“The Echo grants him the gift to perceive future attacks, that is true,” Tsubasa said, “So he would know your intent before you could effectively act on it. No, our client wants us to observe.”

“Observe?” she made a face. Observing was incredibly dull, “For what purpose?”

“To confirm the theory, to find weakness… anything and everything,” Tsubasa’s expression was blank. Kimiko was beginning to think he was incapable of properly emoting, “Aza Lynel carries the potential to become a powerful and unstoppable enemy. It may be best to arrange his… containment soon.”

“Ah, so, observe to kill,” Kimiko chuckled quietly. Even powerful Warriors of Light had moments of weakness, precognitive abilities or not. Someone had, somehow, successfully drugged him before, so the Echo didn’t detect _everything_. “Will we wait on command or take opportunities?”

“The client is happy for us to take advantage whenever we see it.”

Kimiko was happy enough with that, flipping the page in the file to his personality section. It was in depth and… oh? “Mental instability?”

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Tsubasa said promptly, “Also termed PTSD by the Imperial Mental Health Institute. In Eorzea, it’s also called ‘Dragon-Shock’ or ‘Shellshock’. It’s my own diagnosis from piecing together anecdotes from my contacts and local stories about him, but an Imperial doctor has concurred with me.”

Kimiko carefully read the paragraph regarding Aza’s mental state. She could see potential for weaknesses in this, but the Warrior of Light was, to put it very frankly, too dangerously unpredictable. He took exception to the oddest of things, was paranoid of eating and drinking poisoned food, was prone to stabbing first and asking questions if he didn’t like the look or feel of someone, jealously guarded his personal space and was overtly hostile to those that intruded it repeatedly, and tended to react to triggering stimulus with extreme, crushing violence. No, playing on Aza’s PTSD would be too risky without observing his ‘fits’ first hand.

“He dislikes people being close,” Kimiko said thoughtfully, “Or touching him. The Xaela tribes frequently raid each other, don’t they?”

“They do,” Tsubasa’s expression was utterly still, “Some tribes, such as the Jhungid, steal ‘wives’ from other tribes and… well. Perhaps it is done to men as well. I will not assume on that front.”

Kimiko _did_ assume. It fit in with his prickly, hedgehog-like personality and mannerisms. Again, she’d have to observe him to confirm her suspicions but… it made her curious why he warmed the Lord Commander of Ishgard’s bed, then. Why did he accept his touch over others? She made a note to investigate. Potential to find a weakness there.

“I see you took pains to emphasise his love of battle,” Kimiko noted wryly, “You write it like he gets sexual pleasure from killing powerful enemies.”

“He does draw a distant pleasure out of it,” Tsubasa actually _grimaced_ , “Many reports paint him as a skilled warrior, but there are just as many that confess him to fight like a maddened beast. His kills are messy and his enemies, if they survive, are horrifically maimed and crippled. The Warrior of Light has no mercy in him.”

“Like Zenos.”

“Like Zenos.”

Kimiko tapped her finger against the file, considering. Aza Lynel: powerful warrior, nuisance of the Garlean Empire, and potentially crazier than a bag of angry coeurls. “And the Lord Chancellor of Ishgard is happy to share a bed with someone so… aggressive?”

“Aza puts up a good front,” Tsubasa shrugs, “Or perhaps he really is that two-faced. The Aza you face on the battlefield is a different creature to the one you meet in a social setting.”

Kimiko looked back at the file, scrutinising the paragraphs. Ah, yes, it said it here. Cool and careless when socialising, a rowdy, fun drunk with his adventurer friends, warm and affectionate towards Ishgard’s Lord Commander, and a wild, frenzied animal when blood was in the air. She could see how that came to be – murder your enemies with extreme prejudice… then wipe off the blood, box up the monster and put on a smile for your friends. A neat way to compartmentalise your life.

“Direct confrontation is out,” Kimiko said, half to herself as she flipped the page to his listed skills and abilities. It was… alarmingly long. He was a martial genius and trained in what seemed to be every weapon known to Spokenkind; lances, greatswords, longswords, katana, hand-to-hand, daggers, bows, rifles… it just went on and on. He even had skills in _magic_ , though there was a note that said he rarely tapped into these. She wondered why.

This wasn’t something a normal adventurer just ‘picked up’. These were master-level skills that took decades to master. Aza was, what, in his early thirties? What type of upbringing on the Steppes did he have that drove him to be so _lethal_?

“Direct confrontation is suicide,” Tsubasa confirmed. “Anyone who seriously engages him forfeit their right to live. The only person known to have defeated him one-on-one is Zenos Yae Galvus… and Aza soon rectified that fact.”

Kimiko nibbled on her thumbnail, thinking. It did all add up into a terrifying picture, didn’t it? Even if the Primal theory was disregarded, only a select few chose to obscure their pasts and they were normally in the same business as herself. Aza Lynel… even his name sounded fake. A Seeker without a tribal marker and with a surname? They existed, but normally they were the offspring of a mixed Seeker-Keeper partnership and therefore took up the same naming conventions as their mother.

Aza Lynel was… a name that didn’t adhere to any naming conventions. ‘Lynel’ was the name of some long-deceased Allagan monstrosity and ‘Aza’ was… well it might be a very obscure Keeper name? Or just something made up. It must be fake. But it was strange… it was so obviously fake that it looked like the work of an amateur, but no amateur could so thoroughly destroy their origins that left even Tsubasa stumped, which meant it was deliberate.

The mystery just kept piling higher and higher.

“What is his goal?” Kimiko asked slowly, “When he came to Eorzea via Ul’dah, he did low level mercenary work for several weeks. His work was good but not outstanding. He only managed to ingratiate himself into the higher levels of power and the Scions by sheer chance.”

“Was it chance?” Tsubasa asked mildly.

Was it? Kimiko stared at Aza’s photo, taking in his dismissive posture. He must’ve known the Garlean photographer was there, but didn’t touch them, didn’t even care. And why should he? With the death of Zenos Yae Galvus, he had nothing to fear of anyone, anymore.

Who was this man? _What_ was this man?

“This… will be difficult to contain,” she admitted with a smile. She was the best in the business and created a reputation of being reliable even in the most hopeless of cases, but this… everything about Aza Lynel was twinging her instincts as _dangerous_. His yellow eyes were so striking in that photo, she could barely look away from it. Such a handsome man… but in the way all predators were. He could kill her with ease the moment he had his hands on her – it made her heart quicken at the thought.

Exciting.

“I think he can’t be contained any longer,” Tsubasa was looking at the photograph too, his expression unreadable, “He’s gained too much power, too much support. Eorzea have rallied behind him, including Ishgard and Ala Mhigo, and with the addition of Doma, as weak as it is, his influence is only spreading.”

He was as immortal as a mortal man can get, Kimiko thought gleefully.

“Well, you said I only have to observe, yes?” she tapped her bottom lip, “And already I can think of a few chinks in his armour. The Lord Chancellor, for one…”

“Harming him will weaken Ishgard somewhat,” Tsubasa said, “But it will enrage Aza.”

It would, and there was nothing easier to manipulate than a man blind with rage.

“We’ll shelve it as a possibility,” she hummed, closing the file and tucking the photograph in it, “Thank you for the information, Tsubasa. It has been most enlightening.”

Tsubasa dipped his head, “I live to serve.”

“Hm,” that he did. Kimiko wondered what Garlemald held over his head, but she didn’t get this job by being nosy towards the wrong people. She stifled her curiosity and turned her mind towards her target instead. Observe to kill. Find weaknesses. Then contain.

It sounded so easy laid out like that, even though she was doing the equivalent of assassinating a living god.

“I will get in touch with you within a week,” she said, rising from the table. Tsubasa remained sitting. He must have another client, “I want more on his past by then.”

“I will try,” Tsubasa sighed.

That will have to do. With a nod, Kimiko left their private tea room, smiling at the Imperial guard standing by the door. The black helmet merely stared back at her emotionlessly. Ah, what stiff-necked people, these Garleans.

But they paid well. Kimiko reminded herself of that fact as she left the tea house, file safely hidden away within her voluminous kimono. Kugane bustled around her and she drank the noise in, unable to hold back a smile as the reality of her situation sunk in. Assassinating the closest thing to a mortal god… how exciting. It would be an event that would ripple through history – a pleasing footnote of the assassin that bested the strongest man to ever live.

She slipped the photograph out and stared down at it, taking in the handsome face, that powerful frame, those dismissive, predatory eyes… dangerous. So dangerous. So beautiful. She wondered how he would be in his death throes. Would he be dignified? Or messy? Or would he thrash and snap at her like a beast in a trap? Would he _cry_?

Only one way to find out… she slowly unboxed her own monster, her smile baring teeth as she folded the photograph in half, then quarters, and tucked it close to her heart.

* * *

In the week that passed, Kimiko’s own contacts told her Aza was in Doma.

It was as if the Gods had simply handed her an opportunity – who was she to squander it? So, she slipped onto a merchant’s vessel crossing the Ruby Sea, limbo’d beneath the Confederacy’s nose, and right into Doma. It took a good day and a half to achieve, trudging on foot through the wilderness of Yanxia, but it was for the best that she avoided the main routes for now. Whilst Kimiko wouldn’t be recognised on sight, those toy _shinobi_ from the House of the Fierce were being very nosy to any unfamiliar faces passing through Doma’s checkpoints. They were keen to catch any ‘Garlean spies’, unaware that they were already seeded with them, the idiots, and whilst Kimiko knew she could slip through with little difficulty, she just couldn’t be bothered with the hassle.

After all, there were _real shinobi_ still loyal to Doma, like that Yugiri for one. Things would be too messy if she recognised Kimiko as a fellow predator.

So, she travelled through the wilderness. It suited her mission just fine to travel like that too. Aza was here hunting an S-Rank Mark that Clan Centurio had flagged roaming Yanxia’s wilderness a few days back. Some monstrous tiger that could breathe fire or something, Kimiko hadn’t really pressed for details on the beast, sighted near the mountain pass leading into the Azim Steppe desert. By the time she reached the location the sun had set and risen again, sitting at its apex while she curled up in the thin, drooping branches of a lone tree over a shallow pond atop a hill. It gave her a good viewpoint of the surrounding area, and the breeze was lovely up here. Fairly peaceful too, even when a… school (?) of Namazu ambled by to splash in the pond for a few hours before moving on.

The sun was setting by the time her target appeared.

It was near the bottom of the hill, along the barely-there dirt path that led towards the mountain pass. He was walking alongside his Chocobo, his compact frame almost comically small next to his destrier. His pace was unhurried and confident, seemingly uncaring of being caught in the wilderness after sunset, where all the _powerful_ monsters came out. Kimiko stayed in her tree and watched.

Aza walked around for a bit. He stepped off the path, vanished from view behind one of the tall, rocky pillars that jutted out of Yanxia’s landscape, then would reappear, still walking casually and apparently chatting to his Chocobo. He seemed relaxed and comfortable. The sun sunk lower, and at this point Kimiko had to use a Garlean night-vision sight to see him, grainy grey pixels helping her make out the wandering Miqo’te and his Chocobo.

What was he doing? Wasn’t he meant to be hunting a monster tiger? Why was he just walking _literal circles_ on the main route? Was he hoping it would rear its head at some point and attack him?

Strange if that was his plan. Miqo’te were considered natural hunters, even if they weren’t raised in the ‘traditional’ Miqo’te sense. Imperial Miqo’te’s, those that were born into the Empire and were raised properly, still carried a hunting instinct that made them perfect scouts or snipers. Kimiko was sure that those hunting instincts would be bred out of them after several generations of aggressive Imperial indoctrination, but it meant Aza’s behaviour here stood out. As well, the Azim Steppes still had the primitive tribe makeup, where hunting was a must to survive. If he really did live with a Xaela tribe prior to Eorzea…

Everything about him just didn’t add up, she realised.

Eventually, Aza stopped aimlessly wandering about. He stood in the middle of the road and was peering up the hill where Kimiko’s tree was. In fact, though it was difficult to make out with the grainy night-vision sight, it almost looked like he was staring right _at her_ , but that was impossible. Seeker eye-sight, whilst better than other races at night-time, wasn’t good enough to see long distances in the dark. That feat belonged to the Keepers, who were almost downright impossible to hide from, with their perfect night-vision, keen nose and impeccable hearing. According to rumour, a Keeper Miqo’te could hear a man’s heartbeat from several yalms away.

As if sensing her thoughts, he started walking up the hill.

Silently, Kimiko relocated. Using her _shinobi_ techniques, she displaced to one of the towering rock pillars close to the hill. She looked down with her night-vision sight, frowning when Aza made a beeline to the tree she had just occupied, circling its base and peering up at its branches like a predator trying to sniff out a meal. After four circles, he stopped and looked around, and in the dim light, his eyes were like twin flickers of gold, glinting like a nocturnal animal’s.

 _He knew I was there…_ Kimiko thought with a thrill that made her stomach flutter excitedly. Even when just passive observing from a distance, well-hidden due to _shinobi_ techniques, he knew she had been watching him. Since when? The moment he came into view? Was that why he’d been ambling so randomly? Did he lose patience when she didn’t leave? Could he sense her now?

Aza’s eyes lifted to her position on the rock pillar.

Instinct told her to move – but she squelched it easily. For one long, breath-taking moment, the Warrior of Light stared in her direction, his eyes twin glints of light in the tiny crosshairs of the Garlean night-sight. He did not move an ilm, and it felt as if the world around them held its breath in anticipation, Kimiko loosening her muscles in preparation to _move_.

But then.

Aza turned away with a derisive flick of his tail and moved away. Down the hill, onto the road, and out of sight. He didn’t look back once.

Kimiko lowered the sight once he was gone, her face flushed and her heart thumping hard against her ribs. She was smiling, a wide, delighted grin that hurt her cheeks. Oh, he had been _terrifying_. The stories did not disappoint, and all he did was stand there and look pretty! Oh, oh, oh, she could not _wait_ to break that cool veneer open and see what he was like inside. She could not wait to see that perfect instrument of destruction _move_.

She wanted him very badly. Too bad she had to ki- no, _contain_ him…

Contain. Ah, they didn’t specify _how_ to achieve that, specifically. The easiest and more permanent solution was, of course, to outright kill him, but one could get away with simple captivity. It was just figuring out the right way to clip their wings and sever their tendons. His Radiance would no doubt endorse her captivity attempts if she allowed the Imperial scientists access to examine _in detail_ the specimen that was the Warrior of Light. So long as they didn’t damage him too badly…

It didn’t take much for Kimiko to reprioritise, her mind settling on the first order of business to begin her new self-imposed mission. Minor observation, high difficulty but decent chance of success… she needed to isolate and emotionally compromise the Warrior of Light, to easily draw him into a trap. She had the perfect bait too. Why, he flaunted it for all and sundry to see, and to look, and to _snatch_.

“Lord Commander of Ishgard…” she hummed, pushing herself off her uncomfortably, rocky perch, “Hopefully you will be easier prey to sneak up on. Ufufufu…~”

**Author's Note:**

> So, while poking through my laptop during a post-airplane nap haze, I found this super old thing. I decided to post it up, but it has no concrete plan so, uh, expect updates to be suuuuuper slow with this. It can probs be a standalone oneshot thing but, we'll see where it goes and what happens to it. Ideas are welcome!
> 
> Please kudos/comment if you enjoyed!


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